New data supports development of colchicine for the prevention of acute respiratory distress syndrome

December 3, 2020
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This syndrome can develop in patients with COVID-19 if the virus enters the respiratory tract and damages the lungs 

The Montreal Heart Institute has announced that colchicine, a widely available low-cost drug, reduces acute lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome and respiratory failure in pre-clinical models. The article reporting these results was published yesterday by the Public Library of Science ONE (PLOS ONE).

“This study was designed and executed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as there were no effective therapies at that time to prevent SARS-CoV-2 related lung injury and ARDS,” said Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, Director of the MHI Research Center, Professor of Medicine at the University of Montreal, COLCORONA Principal Investigator and co-principal lead author of the study published in PLOS ONE. “In the context of COVID-19, there is an urgent need for effective therapies that can reduce intensive care unit admissions, mechanical ventilation and death, which is the reason why we initiated the international COLCORONA study to evaluate colchicine in treating at-home patients with COVID-19.”